Amazon Coins to be used as app currency on Kindle Fire

Amazon has announced a new currency system, appropriately titled Amazon Coins, for its Kindle Fire lineup. The Coins can be used on the Kindle Fire (and presumably other Android devices as well) to buy apps, games, and most importantly, in-app content. And when it launches in May, Amazon’s going to be giving away “tens of millions of dollars” of Coins to users to kickstart the program. Afterwards, the coins will be available to purchase normall. All applications submitted to the App Store before April 25th will be able to exchange the Amazon Coins automatically.

This isn’t a new concept, as it’s similar to what Facebook does for their games and apps, but I think it’ll be interesting to see how Amazon puts its own spin on the idea. In their press release, they made a bold claim that they see higher revenue per user than any other Android platform. Although they didn’t give any specific numbers for us to dissect, if its true, this Coins idea is definitely going to help change the way we view application stores and markets, which is better for consumers and developers. We’ll be sure to let you know if any more details pop up between now and May.

Born in southern Alabama, Jared spends his working time selling phones and his spare time writing about them. The Android enthusiasm started with the original Motorola Droid and an unhealthy obsession with fixing things that aren't broken. This accidentally led to being the go-to guy for anything more complicated than a toaster, which he considers more of a curse than a blessing. Jared is enrolled in online classes at the University of Phoenix, and spends his spare time on video games and listening to music.

Torqueobama

It will be interesting to see how states react to a virtual currency with regards to tax collection.